Black Friday/Birthday

We went shopping on Black Friday and I think we did a pretty good job. I only got a couple things for DB but I was able to get him the things he wanted most.

 We got quite a few things. My mom got a lot of different Thomas the Train and Shake 'N Go cars for my nephew. One of the Toys R Us doorbusters was a Shake 'N Go Lightning McQueen that was half the price.

 It's really pretty cute. Right now he is into everything Shake 'N Go so he will be really excited!

Tomorrow is my birthday so she bought me a laptop for my birthday/Christmas gift and we got a lot of different things from Bath and Body Works. DB bought me an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen last night. I love ice cream cake with the little crunchies in the middle! I was super excited and completely surprised. I had taken my mom to see my uncle in the hospital and then her flight out was at 5:45 and..I couldn't get her to leave the hospital until 5:20, as you probably guessed she missed her flight and had to stay another day (no one was complaining) so when we got home DB was at work but he kept texting her asking her to make me look in the freezer...eventually she said 'Come out here and get my some ice cream', I was pretty sure that was why but not positive. I love to get an ice cream cake and go out to dinner, who doesn't love presents but can we just call it my birthday and skip the getting older part?!

I hope that tomorrow goes well for all of us!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving dinner as a whole was incredible! Most of it was made at my house and we lugged it over to my grandma's house.

The turkey was one of the things that we made at our house and it actually turned out incredible. This turkey was 21 lbs. and we have plenty of leftovers, turkey sandwiches with green olives...yum!

Brussel sprouts with bacon, these are our 'tradition', my grandma makes these are ever holiday dinner. She adds a little garlic salt to the mix and they are always delicious!

Rolls

 

 

My grandma called my mom before we left our house with most of the things we were bringing and asked for some bananas, I have an uncle that is serious about making sure there is fruit salad there. He went to the house to help early and when he realized my grandma forgot the fruit salad  he threw a fit and made her call my mom to pick up bananas.

Cooked Stuffing

Dinner turned out delicious and pretty easy. My uncle didn't get to be there but he was pretty stocked up on pumpkin pie. It took a while for DB to get back from his mom's house and from what I have heard it was a pretty hard time. Holiday's seem to be a mess when it comes to his family and I always feel so bad but there seems to be no solution.

On the other hand, my uncle is doing well and right now while he is still in the hospital it is only because they are waiting for a bed to open at the rehabilitation center they are trying to get him into. He has had physical therapists in a couple times a day to help him get up out of bed and walk around, he's having a hard time but he knows it is necessary. Thank you everyone for your thoughts!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and is having a good time if you're preparing for the next one!

 

 

Pumpkin Pie

I love to bake! I always bake whatever is needed, this time it was pumpkin pies.

The dough I make is really easy, I just have to mix it all up and then wrap it up and refrigerate it for an hour to be able to put it into the pie pan.

I made two, sometimes my aunt will make something but every other time it's something most of us won't eat so just in case I went ahead and had two pies ready (although I would never turn down left over pumpkin pie anyway).

I've already used my new KitchenAid a couple of times but I am still excited when I get to pull it out.

I use the recipe that is on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin can for my pies. They are extremely yummy and fairly easy to make. The only problem I have had is the baking time is sometimes not enough and I have to leave them in until they're not jiggly anymore.

I love some pumpkin pie! Does anyone else have a dessert or specific dish that is traditional?

Turkey Stuffing

It was a different Thanksgiving here, my uncle is still in the hospital and my mom was here. We made the turkey, stuffing and pies at my house to take to my grandma's for dinner.

I was a little nervous about making quite a bit of the dinner at my house because I had never done it before, my mom helped us get through it pretty easily. We decided to have dinner pretty early so DB could have dinner at his mom's and then when he came back we could go to the hospital to spend sometime with my uncle.

When we were making the stuffing there were so many onions cooking I think I could smell it all the way through to Friday night.

The stuffing was delicious! It felt like forever cutting up onions and celery but it turned out really good. After dinner there was no stuffing for anyone to take home for later, I guess that means everyone else liked it too!

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to get on while I had a minute to think and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day! Be safe and have fun! If you are going shopping tomorrow be careful and good luck on deals!

Airport, hospital, Lasagna

I was thinking while eating my cheese and crackers that I should make a quick post while I have a chance.

Today has flown by, I can't believe it's 8:30 already...I have gotten quite a bit done...except shower. My mom is flying in tonight, in fact, she's on her first flight to Charlotte as I type and her flight here leaves at 9:10. She will be here at 11:32 and I have to leave my house by 10:30...not too much time, or just enough however you look at it. From the airport she wants to go straight to the hospital to see my uncle (her brother). He's doing well, he had his last surgery this afternoon, they had to fuse two of his vertebrae together. Once she gets to see him we will head back to my house for a little sleep...and I mean little because she wants to head back to the hospital by 8 in the A.M. I also have to pick my Great Grandma up for Thanksgiving, while my mom is at the hospital. It poses to be a lot of driving.

On a higher note, we had delicious Lasagna for dinner last night.

I love Lasagna, it's so yummy! It's also really easy, I always thought Lasagna was a hard, time consuming meal but it's not at all.

While I'm excited about Thanksgiving, it's really coming up fast. Tomorrow throughout all my driving here there and everywhere I will also have to make pumpkin pies and stuffing and start a Turkey in the middle of the night so we can eat early, poor DB has to eat at his mom's too and wanted ours to be first for better food. He's so sweet!

I hope everyone has an incredible day tomorrow!

Tuesday....already?

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I'm really surprised Monday has gone by as fast as it did...and so here we Tuesday already and by the time I blink it will be Thanksgiving. There is plenty to prepare for as well as to be thankful for! Like all of the beautiful people that read my blog, Thank you!

I hope everyone has a great day ahead of them!

Mail Time Monday

My mail was pretty good this week. I got some good stuff...and some bills.

I was really excited I got a FREE item up to a $13 value from Bath & Body Works with a purchase of $10 or more...I am going to Bath and Body Works on Black Friday so this will be a great little extra! I also got pretty in pink ear plugs so I don't have to listen to DB snore anymore. And I love the little vaseline, it's a little replica of a full sized bottle, I thought it was cute.

Sunday Dinner

Tonight for dinner I made Panini's. I love these sandwiches, they're incredibly delicious and super easy to make.

We had Turkey and Ham with Provolone. You can get these in different places in Ohio and Pennsylvania (maybe other states I'm not sure) and they always come with coleslaw..I hate coleslaw so we make without here. It's so easy, I just get a loaf of Italian bread for the bakery cut my slices and put them on my griddle pan to toast up. I just use regular lunch meat, any kind, put it on the griddle as well and then right before I am going to put it on the bread I put a slice of cheese on top. We make the french fries and smash them down in the sandwich, yum! We don't put any condiments on really, sometimes I will put a little bit of apple cider vinegar on.

They're really good and super simple.

We love Pizza!

I really wanted some pizza last night and we love homemade pizza! I got really upset when I couldn't find my recipe for dough because it wasn't where I thought it was, I finally found it on top of the fridge. I make the dough to fit just onto a cookie sheet, my mom always made rectangle pizza.

It's really very simple. Unfortunately, I didn't have much to put on the pizza. I would normally put everything I can find on it, we love love mushrooms and pepperoni, but I didn't have either one on hand. I did however have some black olives, which I always liked on my pizza.

 I have had tons of cheese laying around from doing the Kraft deal in October at Giant Eagle. I've never tried to be too creative but I have heard that barbecue sauce with grilled chicken breast chunks makes for good pizza. Well, DB told me he was on his way home from work an hour early so I hadn't even thought of starting the pizza yet, I had to rush and no time to cook chicken so this is what I threw together.

It tasted delicious! I love rectangle pizza, it's so simple to roll out into this shape and it will slide right off the sheet pan and fits on the cutting board. I also don't really want the clutter of the round pan that I won't ever use for any other reason.

I don't honestly remember where I got the recipe for this dough but I know I found it two years ago. It's super simple and very quick.

Pizza Crust

1 Tbsp. Active Dry Yeast

1 Cup Warm Water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1 Tsp. Sugar

1 Tsp. Salt

2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

2 1/2 Cups Flour

• Dissolve the yeast in water. 
• Add all ingredients to yeast/water and mix well
• Spread dough on a floured surface
• Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth
• Roll out and put down on a greased baking sheet
• Add toppings
• Bake at 450 degrees F for 12-15 minutes

I hope you try and love it!!

Saturday hop

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Friday Hopping

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I love the weekend but I have so much to do, my mom's flight comes in Tuesday night so I have until then to have what I need done. My uncle was supposed to help DB fix his car today and forgot....atleast it's the weekend and he can go tomorrow. Poor DB has been driving on bad axles for months because we couldn't afford to fix them, I can't really say we can afford it now but we don't have a choice.

We watched the new Hell's Kitchen last night, I have to say I'm happy to see Sabrina go! She was really annoying and trying to be gangster isn't cute. I think my favorite is Jillian and I also like Nona. I love when it gets so close to the end but I hate to know I have to wait for the new season. I should probably get in gear and start doing something. I hope everyone has a great Friday and start to their weekend!

Snowmen

My mom asked me a while ago to paint her a snowman family on a weathered board. Everything has been so crazy around here I needed something to calm down with and I figured since my mom will be here on Tuesday for Thanksgiving I would have a nice surprise to make her feel better as well. She asked for simple snowmen of our family with 'Welcome Winter'. I think it's cute, I could not for my life find a ruler so the letters a little bit off but she won't even notice she'll be so happy.

I think it turned out pretty cute, it's simple but it's what she asked for. I'm so excited for her to get here, the holidays can get more than just chaotic here. My family, they love DB, we have all always been very close, I'm especially close with my mom, dad and brother.

There is still lots to do with very little time. Tomorrow is the beginning of what will hopefully be a wonderful weekend!

It's been a long week.

I know it's only Thursday but it's been a long week so far. I found out that my uncle was in a car accident and in a coma in critical condition Monday. My grandma is also in the hospital she had a mild heart attack last week and they can't get her blood pressure down. The worst part is that one is in Ohio and one is in Pennsylvania. My poor mom lives in North Carolina so she's having a hard time, she would of come here by now but she is finishing up a degree and has clinicals so everyone being stable right now she really can't afford to miss school. She was already coming up for Thanksgiving and actually bought her ticket the day before she found out my uncle was in an accident. I feel awful, she's been stressed to the max this is her brother and they're close and my grandma in the hospital is my dad's mom and he's deployed in Iraq. Everyone is stressed and having a rough time, my mom's mother is running from home to hospital daily, hopefully today she can stay the night with him, he has been in ICU but they were talking of putting him in his own room now.

So, I have spent very little time on here and almost all of my time on the phone with my mom trying to help her relax, she calls me in between everything, class and clinicals and if she's not anywhere for anything she's on the phone. She's called me the past three nights in the middle of the night cause she can't sleep. Monday was the worst I think now that he is out of a coma she is a little relieved. There seems to be alot in an underlying story that everyone only knows bits and pieces of so it's hard on them not knowing everything that's been going on. I will try to be on here a little more, I have a few things I want to post and a couple of hops today.

Thank you so much for stopping by! If you're from a  hop and decide to follow please leave me a comment so I know where I can follow you back. I hope everyone is having  a wonderful week and in preparation for Thanksgiving!

 

Tuesday hopping

 

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Mail Time Monday

It was a pretty good week for mail. I also got something I ordered for DB for Christmas but SHH! I can't post it or he might see! I'm exhausted and it's only Monday. I hope everyone has a great week ahead!

Hopping on Monday

 

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A busy weekend

We've been running around here cleaning up this and that so everything is nice before Thanksgiving. Can you believe it's a week and a half away already?! That's insane and I know it will keep going fast so I need to get things done. One thing I have been putting off because it's always a pain is cleaning my laundry room.

It tends to be the catch-all in the house, I thought I took a before picture but now I can't find it. Only looking at the after it still looks pretty jumbled. This room is always cluttered with some kind of junk and I can't stand it.

I still have all kinds of things stuffed into the shelves, like my tin lunch boxes..I love those things. I use the boxes as purses, they're so cute! And my sewing machine, the one I told you about before, it's the old kind that were built into a table.

It's beautiful, I think these ones are great, they do take up quite a bit of space but how sweet is it to have a good sized table right there with it?

This is one of the things we got done this week and it took a while, so much junk! Now I have to start lugging things down to the basement! I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

French Toast

I made a delicious breakfast this morning, French Toast!

I love it! We haven't had it in quite a while so I woke up craving French Toast and had this song stuck in my head. It's a great song...I'm just not sure how it got into my head!

  

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Friday Hopping

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I'm so excited to start the weekend, nothing is really going on but who doesn't love the weekend?! I hope everyone has some good plans they can enjoy, it's super cold here so I'll see what we get done!

Happy Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day, if you know a Veteran please remember to thank them today! I have many to Thank, my dad is a Veteran, my grandpa, my great-grandpa, my father-in-law and many of my friends!  

Thank you to all the men and women serving everyday!!

Hopping around Thursday!

 

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